The Blue Ridge National Heritage Area encompasses the mountains and foothills of Western North Carolina, a landscape of ancient mountains and long-established traditions shaped over centuries by the people who have lived there. Honored as a National Heritage Area for its natural beauty and living traditions of music, craft, agriculture, and Cherokee culture, the region includes Mount Mitchell, the highest mountain east of the Mississippi, Linville Gorge, the deepest gorge in the Eastern United States, the New River, the oldest river in North America, and Great Smoky Mountains National Park and the Blue Ridge Parkway, the most visited national park lands in the country. Its cultural heritage includes more than 10,000 years of Cherokee history, the Biltmore Estate, bluegrass, old-time, gospel, and other mountain music that has influenced American music, distinctive handcraft traditions, and fresh food from local farms.